SPAR UK Partner, The Henderson Group, has developed a new delivery management solution – the TranSend ePOD System – to optimise delivery fleet efficiency.

The new solution provides the SPAR wholesale company with a centralised delivery portal across the entire delivery operation and is integrated with its warehouse management and route planning systems to provide a single view of all delivery data, meaning staff no longer need to navigate multiple systems and screens.

The TranSend solution provides a single app for rugged, tablet or smartphone devices with a back office solution to manage any delivery management operations.

With the app, Henderson can manage a driver’s entire day from log-on and depot departures through to depot return and driver debrief. The app includes the following functions:

- Login checks to verify drivers against routes
- Workflow to handle various customer delivery requirements
- Dynamic updates with new driver tasks/deliveries throughout the day
- Two-way messaging between the driver and back office
- Recording of notes and photographs for each delivery, available in real time to the back office for immediate debrief and to speed up any credit due
- Vehicle checks and defect reporting
- Delivery asset tracking and balance management for cages, milk crates etc.

With the new TranSend ePOD system, The Henderson Group is seeing the following operational benefits:

• A real-time back office dashboard view, tracking all vehicles and deliveries at any time
• Estimated times of arrival, updated in real time
• Real-time alerts for proactive management of the delivery process, including temperature tolerance
• Accurate credit calculation for exceptions and returns, including catch weight foods and split cases for cash-on-delivery or immediate invoicing
• Enhanced vehicle checks, with intelligent walk-around sequence and full defect reporting.

Pat McGarry, Logistics Director at The Henderson Group, explains how TranSend ePOD supports their plans for service excellence, “We wanted an ‘out-of-the-box’ solution that was simple and intuitive to use for our own and any agency drivers, with the depth of workflow functionality to manage customer-specific requirements at each stop and down to product detail level for variables such as temperature and weights. TranSend enables us to provide a more flexible and efficient delivery service across both our wholesale and foodservice businesses with real-time information that enables us to pro-actively manage our delivery process.”